Okay, still on the subject of Meadowbank Care Home, which used to be known as Whitehills Care Home, let's talk about the litttle matter of theft that goes on within the place. Money (£10 in one case) has been stolen from my mother's purse within her room on two separate occasions, unopened bottles of Lucozade regularly went missing, and her footwear has now gone 'walkabout' at least six times. Perhaps I should say five-and-a-half times, because in one instamce, it was 'only' one item of footwear. On that occasion it was a slipper, and I'm still slightly baffled as to how a single slipper can disappear without the other one going missing at the same time. Maybe they fell out, eh? So, to date, that's three and-a-half pairs of slippers and two pairs of shoes that have 'mysteriously' vanished.
At the time, I was still in the unenviable position of having to make regular complaints about the place; windows being left open on cold winter nights with no heating on, and - get this - staff continually placing my mother's footwear on the top shelf of the wardrobe out of sight and reach of my mother - or under a duvet on the bottom of the wardrobe where they couldn't be seen. I remind you that my mother has Alzheimer's, so if something is out of sight, it's also out of mind, yet no matter how many times I politely pointed this out, it still persisted. Surely this constitutes a striking example of stupidity if nothing else does? I eventually wrote on a whiteboard a note requesting that staff refrain from putting her shoes and slippers in the wardrobe. Did it make a blind bit of difference? Did it 'eck as like!
One evening I mentioned to a member of staff who came into the room that this was still happening, despite the neatly printed sign requesting it desist. I indicated the sign to her (it was above the radiator at the side of my mother's armchair) and she looked at it and said "How long has that beem there?" "About a year" I replied. "Rubbish" she said, "I've never seen it before!" "That's more a reflection on your powers of observation - or lack of them - than it is on the sign's visibility" I responded. How could anyone come into a room over the course of a year and not see a clearly visible sign? The short answer is that quite a number of staff in the place walk about like farts in a trance and don't pay attention to what's going on around them. And too many of them are, in my opinion based on experience, simply stupid.
Incidentally, these are all documented facts, preserved in emails I sent to management and which I still have to this day. Regarding the missing footwear, I'm convinced they were purloined out of spite by a disgruntled staff member with a grudge against me because I regularly complained about lots of things. Well, wouldn't you if it were your mother? If ever a search was implemented of other residents' rooms (or anywhere else) to see if some befuddled biddy had decided to 'adopt' them, there was never any sign of them. As Sherlock Holmes said, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!" A simple matter of logic, which, unfortunately, isn't much in evidence at Meadowbrook. If none of the residents had removed the footwear, then it must've been a member of staff.
My mother hadn't been in the Home long when she mentioned one day her watch was missing. I searched the room, sliding my hands down the sides and back of her armchair and under any items which might be obscuring sight of it. No, definitely missing so I reported it to staff. A few days later I received a 'phone call informing me the watch had been found down the side of her armchair. Not possible. That's one instance where another resident had clearly made off with it and it had been discovered in her room. The Home obviously didn't want me thinking there were any light-fingered old ladies around who were attracted to glittery things they might take a liking to. Not theft exactly, but 'appropriation' by a confused and unfortunate individual. However, it showed to me that staff were prepared to lie in order to protect the Home's reputation.
And then there's the matter of the toilet seat. You've already seen the photos. Whenever I noticed excrement on the seat, I drew it the staff's attention as I was leaving, and they said they'd clean it. On my next visit I could see that although it had been wiped, it hadn't been wiped thoroughly and the seat or porcelain under it still had traces of schect on view. When I compared the photos I took, it was obvious from the 'pattern' it was the same as on my previous visit. This catalogue of past events, along with more recent ones, explains why some staff, possibly at the urging of the 'higher ups', are trying to blacken my name with ludicrous allegations and bully me into silence. Anyway, I'm getting tired so I'm off to my scratcher. More true and documented stories about the failings of Whitehills/Meadowbrook coming soon - and that's a promise.
(Don't worry, Martin, your turn in the spotlight is also coming soon.)
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